I Don't Hate That Band

So, Relevant magazine's website ran an excerpt from my book last week, and there have been a lot of interesting comments made on the piece. Like most internet comments sections, there is a lot of uncharitable meanness. It still amazes me (maybe it shouldn't) that the readers of a Christian magazine are so quick to anger.

The essay is mostly about "losing my faith in Christian music" at a concert by the band Audio Adrenaline. They're one of the bands that a lot of people (myself included) cite as an example of cheesy mainstream 90's Christian rock, along with the Newsboys, dc Talk, etc. I owned and loved records by all those bands in the 90's. The band isn't really the point; the story is about the close and conflicted relationship between faith and rock music in evangelical pop culture, and how it affected me as a 15 year-old kid.

Unfortunately, most of the comments on the site are about Audio Adrenaline, and whether or not their music or their approach to music and/or ministry is good/legit, and why I'm a stupid idiot for not liking them (even though I didn't say I didn't like them). That's maybe my fault for mentioning a particular band; I hope I didn't say anything that suggests I dislike them as people or even as a band. Two former members of the band have made comments, and they've been much more gracious than a lot of the commenters.

Every once in a while I've been chiming in with a comment (even though I really don't like reading them) and trying to explain that the piece is not an argument against anything, not an attack on any particular band, just a part of the larger story of the book.

So, just in case there's any confusion: I don't dislike Audio Adrenaline.